“This is the long-in-coming continuation of an important conversation,” Odozor said. “Christianity is booming in the global south and we want to get into the heart of that from the Catholic perspective. We need to bring Africa’s reality out, to dialogue with the movement of the Church there, and not just focus on the disasters.”

The assembly of speakers and participants is diverse and includes four cardinals, six archbishops or bishops, four superiors general of religious orders, numerous priests and sisters and a host of theologians and members of the laity.

The session topics will include moral theology, evangelization, faith and family, dialogue with African traditional religion and Islam and the engagement of Christianity with contemporary African society and culture. On the final day, five Notre Dame theology graduate students will present papers — an affirmation of and nod to the future of African theology.

“We hope this conference will help to clarify and articulate the faith from an African perspective — for Africa, for the rest of the world and for our increasingly global Church,” Odozor said.